Toy vehicles are well known in the art and have proven to be extremely popular with consumers and have for many years provided high volume sales for toy manufacturers. Because of the popularity of toy vehicles and the intense competition between practitioners in the art, a virtually endless variety of toy vehicles have been provided by manufacturers. As a result, toy vehicles have been provided which are free-wheeling and able to be used in playsets or in manual handling upon a play surface. Further improvements have provided various types of propulsion systems such as wind-up motors and battery-powered drive mechanisms. Additional varieties have included toy vehicles which are featured or articulated to embody some type of mechanism which allows further interaction with the toy vehicles.
Perhaps one of the most competitive areas of toy vehicle manufacture is found in the simple free-rolling toy vehicles. Such toy vehicles are relatively fundamental in their fabrication and generally comprise a body and chassis typically formed of metal or plastic material together with a plurality of freely rotating supporting wheels. In attempting to enhance the competitive advantage and play value of their toy vehicle playsets, practitioners in the art have developed a myriad of accessories and feature apparatus for use with such otherwise simple toy vehicles. One of the more interesting developments as practitioners attempt to enhance the play value of free-wheeling unpowered toy vehicles has arisen in the utilization of magnets within the toy vehicles. The interactive capability of magnets in toy vehicles allows them to interact with metal surfaces or other toy vehicles to produce interesting play patterns.
Another aspect of toy vehicle manufacture and sale which has of late become particularly important in the competitive efforts of toy manufacturers is found in the packaging of the toy vehicles themselves. For many years, packages have been creatively fabricated by practitioners in the art in attempting to attract potential purchasers to particular toy vehicles. Thus, various colorful packaging and images upon that packaging have been utilized. Another recent development in toy vehicle packaging which has proven to be extremely effective is found in the so-called “try-me” packaging. This type of packaging generically referred to as “try-me” packaging has proven to be popular and effective throughout a wide range of toy products and is not limited to toy vehicles but is often well-suited to toy vehicle products.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,896,991 issued to Hippely, et al. sets forth a BLISTER CARD PACKAGE FOR HOLDING AND DISPLAYING SMALL ITEMS having a generally planar rigid backboard upon which a forwardly extending shelf is formed. The shelf defines a plurality of apertures therein. A generally planar support sheet is received upon the shelf and defines a further plurality of apertures. A toy vehicle and toy figure are received upon the sheet and are secured thereto. A transparent blister encloses the toy figure and toy vehicle and is joined to the backing to complete the package.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,432 issued to Dods sets forth a MODEL VEHICLE AND TRADING CARD PACKAGING SYSTEM having a generally planar backing upon which a trading card is supported. The backing further supports a shelf extension upon which a toy vehicle is received. The toy vehicle and shelf are enclosed by a transparent plastic blister which is secured to the backing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,138 issued to Klawiter sets forth a PACKAGING FOR A TOY having bottom, top, front, back and side walls defining a box sized to receive a toy and a key. The bottom surface of the box defines an opening aligned with the toy vehicle's slot such that a key may be passed through the bottom box opening into the toy body slot. The key includes a shaft, a head at one end of the shaft and a base at the remaining end. The head is sized to fit through the box opening and body slot and shaped to engage the toy body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,318 issued to Kupersmit sets forth a CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOMOBILE BODIES having an arrangement suitable for anchoring automobile bodies within a shipping container. The arrangement includes a plurality of inflatable elements which are adapted to project into corresponding openings in a horizontally positioned member in the automobile body. The elements are inflated to engage the edges of the opening and lock the body in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,828 issued to Dods sets forth a PACKAGE FOR TRADING CARD AND MODEL VEHICLE having a generally planar backing upon which a trading card is supported. The backing further supports a forwardly extending shelf which receives and supports a toy vehicle. A transparent blister encloses the toy vehicle and the shelf and is joined to the backing by adhesive attachment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,097 issued to Herstein sets forth TOY PACKAGING constructed of sheet material having top, bottom and side walls together with a rear wall defining a toy vehicle receiving enclosure. The enclosure defines an open front through which the toy vehicle is inserted and displayed. The bottom wall is provided with a bottom flap configured to be folded inwardly and define an enclosure floor. The flap includes vehicle engaging apparatus for securing the vehicle within the enclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,688 issued to Jones, et al. sets forth a TOY STORAGE CASE having an appearance generally resembling a vehicle steering wheel. The center portion of the steering wheel shaped package defines a transparent enclosure within which a toy vehicle is received and enclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,382 issued to Randolph sets forth an APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING A REPRESENTATION OF A WHEELED VEHICLE IN VARIOUS POSES WITH RESPECT TO A PICTORIAL SCENE. A simulated toy vehicle is movable with respect to the background scene to provide variation of display.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,298 issued to Dods sets forth a MODEL AND SHAPED CARD PACKAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SAME utilized in packaging trading cards alone or in combination with toy vehicle models. The package relates to the packaging of trading cards in the shape of entertainment figures and the combination of such cards with model vehicles and display stands.
U.S. Pat. No. Des. 371,959 issued to Hupp sets forth a TRUCK BOX having a generally rectangular shape bearing indicia resembling a truck vehicle. A corner portion of the package defines a corner aperture upon which a transparent viewing window is supported. The window facilitates viewing the toy vehicle within the package.
British Patent 2,196,320 issued to McCarthy sets forth BLISTER PACKS having a generally planar rigid substrate defining an aperture therein. One side of the rigid substrate supports a transparent blister window while the remaining side is open. A foldable flap is formed on the opposite side of the substrate and is movable between an open position and a closing position with respect to the aperture.
Additional prior art devices have been provided which utilize magnets in combination with toy vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,613 issued to Sauders sets forth a MAGNETIC TOY having a toy vehicle supporting a magnet at the rear portion thereof. A second magnet is supported at one end of an elongated wand. The user manipulates the toy vehicle by bringing the second magnet which is oriented to repel the first magnet within the vehicle into proximity with the vehicle thereby pushing the vehicle along.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,045,393 issued to Knott; U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,341 issued to Shaw and U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,635 issued to Birdsall set forth examples of early toy vehicle apparatus utilizing magnets.
In addition to use with toy vehicles, magnets have found substantial areas of use in the toy art generally in manners which are generally related to the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,151 issued to Orenstein; U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,777 issued to Inoue; U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,588 issued to Caprio; U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,746 issued to MacMurdo; U.S. Pat. No. 577,730 issued to Eberhardt; U.S. Pat. No. 1,533,540 issued to Craigen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,448 issued to Prunkard; U.S. Pat. No. 3,091,459 issued to Lindman; U.S. Pat. No. 2,975,551 issued to Oberinger; U.S. Pat. No. 2,904,336 issued to Washburn; U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,002 issued to Frazier; U.S. Pat. No. 2,528,938 issued to Wolf; U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,777 issued to Linnebuhr; U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,502 issued to Bolten; U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,135 issued to Cohen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,620 issued to Clapham; U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,555 issued to Zbegner; U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,820 issued to Christman; Re. U.S. Pat. No. 29,552 and British Patent 2,041,766 all shown apparatus generally related to the present invention in that they utilize magnets in one fashion or another.
Additional prior art generally related to the present invention is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,670 issued to Smith; U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,913 issued to Tunstall; U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,413 issued to Weindel, et al. and Published U.S. Patent Application 2004/0056422.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have to some extent improved the art and have in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved, amusing and interesting toy vehicle packages.